|
ACSIL (Association of Commercial Stock Image Licensors) unveiled at the Real Screen Summit in Washington, DC, the first sight of the Grid, a revolutionary licensing format designed to take the confusion and uncertainty out of licensing content in the digital generation. ACSIL, the four-year-old US-based stock footage trade association, whose members comprise 16 of the leading stock footage/news agencies, kicked off the first of four new stock footage panels at the Real Screen Summit with what was expected to be a controversial presentation. It turned out to be a convincing argument for change.
Developed by ASCIL’s Code of Practice Committee (COP), whose members spent nearly two years researching and defining the Grid, the process began with an exhaustive glossary of industry definitions followed by an intensive period of analysis.
“What the Glossary showed us,” said ACSIL Executive Director Jill Hawkins, “was that there is no longer an old or new media, there is just media. Multiple delivery platforms have obscured the differences between definitions of markets and audiences and descriptions of technology. What we have lost sight of is the audience: who they are, where they are.”
When the group, in a radical shift of thinking, simply removed all delivery and format descriptions and focused on the audiences and the pay points – the new world came into focus. “We concluded at the outset that, for instance, renting a DVD is the same as PPV and On Demand. Each viewing is in the home for a fee. We put all forms of media through the same analysis. By the time we had reset all the elements of a typical license, the Licensing Grid was in place.”
“The Licensing Grid,” said co-chair and co-president Max Segal, “is also set up to be future-proof. It is a simple set of licensing elements which will always stay ahead of technology.
“We’re delighted that this first ACSIL panel was launched at Real Screen, which will open an important debate within the community we most value – the production community. This is a process – the first important step.” View the work-in-progress Licensing Grid, Grid Definitions, and FAQ handout.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION email Jill.Hawkins@acsil.org. We also welcome feedback on the Grid - email Jill.Hawkins@acsil.org |
